Willard p



(No Model.)

N0. 604,081. Patentd May 17,1898.

I I INVENTOR WITNESSES; v w? v m ZYTiQQE$ ed e Ni'rn STATES WILLARD F.RICHARDS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES M. GOULD, OF SAMEPLACE.

ELECTRIC-LIGHTING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 604,081, dated May 17,1898.

Application filed September 16, 1897- Serial No. 651,840. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLARD F. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Electric-Lighting Systems forRailway- Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric-lighting apparatus forrailroad-cars in which the dynamo is driven from the car-axle bya beltand the dynamo is movable toward and from the driving-axle, so that thebelt slips when the speed of thedriving-axle exceeds that which isnecessary to properly drive the dynamo, thereby neutralizing such excessof speed and maintaining a practically uniform normal speed of thedynamo. An apparatus of this general character is described and shown inthe application for patent of Preston and Gill, filed February 25, 1895,Serial No. 539,618. In this apparatus the dynamo is suspended on oneside of its oenterof gravity and the overhanging weight of the dynamo isutilized for tightening the belt. This one: sided suspension of thedynamo answers well when the dynamo is comparatively small, but isunsuitable for large dynamos such as are required for furnishingsufficient candlepower toilluminate satisfactorily coaches and chair andsleeping cars of the size ordinarily used on American railroads. I

One of the objects of my invention is to regulate the adhesion ofthedriving-belt automatically, but irrespective of the weight of thedynamo, so thata largeoutput of current can be secured without renderingthe dynamo exceedingly heavy and bulky.

Another object of my invention is to check the vibrations of thedynamo'in coupling the cars and in starting and stopping. In couplingcars provided with the usual automatic car-couplings and spring-bufiersor yielding platform extensions the ears must be brought together withsufficient force to overcome the resistance of the spring-buffersandpermit the couplings to interlock. When these cars are equipped withan electric-lighting system employinga movable dynamo, the concussionincident to coupling causes the dynamo to move from its position of resttoward the carsame and to suspend the dynamo in such manner as to keepits shaft parallel with the car-axle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation ofa dynamo suspended from a car-frame and provided with my improvement.Fig. 2 is a horizontal section in line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asectional side elevation showing a modified construction of theinvention.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A is the car-frame; A, the floor of the car; B one of the car-axles, andB one of the wheels mounted thereon.

C is the dynamosuspended from the carframe, 0 the armature-shaft havingthe driving-pulley c, and D the driving-belt running around the pulleyof the armature-shaft and a pulley D, secured to the car-axle.

E represents parallel suspension links or hangers which connect thedynamo with a base-plate F, secured to the under side of the car-frame,and which are pivoted to this plate and the dynamo by transverse pins 6,so as to permit the dynamo to vibrate toward and from the car-axle. Fourof such links are preferably employed, two on each side of the dynamo,one pairbeing attached to the upper front corners of the dynamo and theother pair to-its upper-rear corners. These links are of uniform length,so as to cause the dynamo to remain level in all positions thereofinstead of assuming an inclined or diagonal position, as is the casewhen the same is suspended on one side of its center. This constructionpermits the use of a multipolar dynamo, or one of oblong form arrangedwith its greatest dimension horizontally, without dan- 10o ger of itsstriking obstructions on thetrack, which would be liable to occur ifsuch a dynamo were suspended only at one end. By suspending the dynamoat its four corners in this manner the same is prevented from twistingand disturbing the parallelism of the armature-shaft with reference tothe car-axle.

In order to tighten the belt D sufficiently to drive the dynamo from thecar-axle under normal conditions, a tension device is employed, whichpreferably is also arranged to act as a resistance for opposing orchecking the forward swing of the dynamo caused by the shock of the carsin coupling the same. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and2 of thedrawings this tension device consists of an elbow-lever G, pivoted by atransverse fulcrum-pin g to a bracket of the base-plate F and having itsshort depending arm connected with the front pair of links or hangers Eby links 71, while its long horizontal arm is attached to the lowersection of a telescopic cylinder I. This cylinder is arranged on thefront side of the dynamo underneath the carfloor and contains an uprightspring or cushion j, which bears against the heads of the cylindersections and resists the upward movement of the lower section 011 theupper section, thereby offering a yielding resistance to the upwardswing of the long arm of the elbow-lever G and checking the forwardvibration of the suspended dynamo.

is a vertical screw whereby the upper sec tion of the cylinder I isadjusted vertically on the lower section for changing the tension of thespring j. This adjusting-screw engages in a screw-threaded openingformed in the upper head of the cylinder and is journaled near its upperend in a bearing is, arranged in the floor of the car. The screw is freeto turn in this bearing, but is held against vertical or endwisemovement therein by collars 70 formed on the same above and below thebearing, as shown in Fig. 1, so that upon turning the screw in one orthe other direction the upper cylinder-section is adjusted up or down onthe lower section and the tension of the spring increased or diminishedaccordingly. The upper cylinder section, while free to slide verticallyon the lower section, is held against turning by a vertical rib orfeather formed on one of the sections and engaging in a correspondinggroove in the other section or by any other suitable means. Theadusting-screw preferably extends upwardly through the car-floor, sothat it can be operated from the inside of the car, and for this purposeits upper end is made square or flatsided to receive a correspondingdetachable wrench Z, which latteris shown bydotted lines in Fig. l.

The spring acts upon the dynamo and presses the same away from thedriving-axle, thereby tightening the belt. The motion of the car-axle istransmitted to the dynamoshaft by the belt and the pulleys in theproportion of their diameters, leaving ordinary slip out ofconsideration, until the car has reached the normal speed for which thespring pressure has been adjusted and at which the dynamo produces thedesired outputfor instance, aspeed of twenty-five miles an hour. As thespeed of the car increases beyond this speed the increased friction ofthe belt pulls the dynamo toward the drivingaXle,and this loosens thebelt correspondingly, causing a slippage of the belt,which neutralizesthe increase in speed and retains the speed of the dynamo-shaftpractically at the normal rate, although the speed of the car may farexceed this speed. The linear movement of the dynamo toward and from itsdriving-axle does not exceed a fraction of an inch, so that the tensionof the spring is not materially affected by this movement. The speed andoutput of the dynamo are thus regulated automatically and independent oftheweight of the dynamo, which can be made as small pressure suppliesthe force by which the output of the dynamo is determined. By increasingthis spring-pressure the output is correspondingly increased.

In coupling cars provided with this lighting apparatus the oscillationsof the dynamo are reduced to a minimum, as the movement of the dynamo isrestrained in one direction by the driving-belt and in the oppositedirection by the spring-pressure. The latter holds the dynamopulleysnugly in the bight of the belt and prevents the pulley from leaving thebelt to such an extent that the belt can run off or can be injured bythe pulley striking the belt on resuming its normal position.

The upper arm of the elbow-lever G is preferably considerably longerthan its lower arm-say twice as long, as shown. By thus proportioningthe arms of the lever the tension device has an advantageous leverage inadjusting the tension of the driving belt, while the dynamo, on theother hand, has an unfavorable leverage over the tension device inswinging forward from the shock of the cars in coupling.

The conducting-wires, switches, and other accessories of thecar-lighting system are not shown in the drawings, as they form no partof my invention.

In the modification of my improvement shown in Fig. 3 a weight M issubstituted for the telescopic cylinder I and tension-spring j of thefirst-described construction. This weight is arranged to slide on theupper long arm of the tension-lever and is adjusted thereon forregulating the tension of the drivingbelt by screw-nuts h, mounted on ascrew N and bearing against opposite ends of the weight. This screw isattached at its inner end to the vertical arm of the elbow-lever andpasses through a smooth opening formed in the weight. In this case thetension of the driving-belt is varied by adjusting the weight toward orfrom the fulcrum of the elbowlever.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the car, the drivascircumstances will permit,since the spring- I ing-axle provided with apulley, the dynamo provided with a pulley and capable of movement towardand from the driving-axle in a substantially horizontal direction, and adriving-belt applied to said pulleys, ofa pressure device attached tothe car and pressing the dynamo away from the driving-axle, whereby thepressure is applied to the belt for producing the desired normal speedof the dynamo-shaft irrespective of the weight of the dynamo, while thelatter is moved toward the axle when the speed of the latter increasesabove that which produces the desired normal speed of the dynamo,causing a slip of the belt which neutralizes the excess of speed of theaxle, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the car, the driving-axle provided with apulley, the dynamo provided with a pulley, and the driving-belt,

of front and rear links by which the dynamo is suspended from the canand rendered capable of moving lengthwise of the car in a horizontalposition, and a pressure device attached to the car and pressing thedynamo away from the axle, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the car, the driving-axle provided with apulley, the dynamo ing-axle provided with a pulley, the dynamo providedwith a pulley and capable of movement toward and from the driving-axle,of a lever having one arm connected with the dynamo, a telescopiccylinder having one of its sections connected with the other arm of saidlever, a pressure-spring arranged in said cylinder, and an adjusting-screw connected w1th the other section of said cylinder,substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 9th day of September, 1897.

WILLARD F. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

' CARL F. GEYER,

KATHRYN ELMORE.

